A landmark farmhouse hotel and restaurant between Stevenage and Hitchin has been acquired by a well-known hospitality group with other pubs and restaurants in our area.

Anglian Country Inns has added The Farmhouse at Redcoats to its stable, bringing its hospitality estate to eight.

The group already runs The Cricketers at Weston, The Fox at Willian and Hitchin’s Hermitage Rd Bar & Restaurant.

Redcoats, which dates back to 1480, has 13 guest rooms and space for 70 diners.

Director Howard Nye has been instrumental in the extensive renovation and refurbishment programme of this impressive building.

He told the Comet: “This exciting acquisition will be a two-year ongoing development project for ACI.

“We’ll be keeping the quirky and the nostalgic but it’s a great opportunity to restore The Farmhouse at Redcoats to its natural charm and splendour.

“The project will ultimately include the conversion of two Grade II-listed barns into further bedrooms and a 120 cover-wedding venue.

“After initial refurbishment our main focus is to firmly establish the ‘farm-to-table’ restaurant using natural ingredients grown in our own garden or sourced locally.

“The completion of this project will bring us to where we want to be – an unrivalled countryside farmhouse restaurant and hotel in rural Herts.”

Heading the kitchen team as executive chef is ACI’s Sherwin Jacobs – who has been head chef at The Fox in Willian.

Howard said the passionate chef’s culinary skills are supreme and that Sherwin promotes farm-to-table and homegrown provenance – bringing “pure delight and taste to a plate”.

He added: “We’re extremely delighted and very lucky to have Sherwin on board as he has the same vision as all of us at ACI.”

Fifteenth-century Redcoats was bought in 1916 by the grandfather of former owners Jackie Gainsford and brother Peter Butterfield.

Howard’s brother James said: “We have known this charming hotel for such a long time, it feels so right – and we are absolutely chuffed to take ownership of this amazing business, having had a long-established friendship with the previous owners Peter and Jackie.

“We are extremely excited to be delivering the next chapter to this wonderful local story.

“I can honestly say that as a family we are extremely proud to now be at the helm. The Farmhouse at Redcoats will be kept a ‘way of life’ as it has always been, but with a few added extras.”

The Farmhouse at Redcoat will reopen in early July. To find out more or book a table from the end of July, see farmhouseatredcoats.co.uk.